Drowning
by rachel.writing326
Summary: Tyler was just following his normal Saturday morning swim routine until he was violently interrupted. Can the other sons save their baby boy? And if so, how does Tyler move past it? Poor summary, I know.
1. Going Under

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the covenant or its characters I simply own this particular story line that I came up with, so please do not sue me, I am a poor, broke, college student.**

SUMMARY: Tyler was just following his normal Saturday morning swim routine until he was violently interrupted. Can the other sons save their baby boy? And if so, how does Tyler move past it?

Tyler breathed in the tangy scent of chlorine as he walked out of the locker room and made his way over to the pool bleachers. He liked it when he got to come down to the pool and work on his diving by himself. Just him and the water. He looked into the pool, seeing through its pristine clearness and down to the very bottom.

It was Saturday morning, only about 10:30am. His brothers knew he liked to practice his dives in the morning on the weekends and generally left him alone. After all, they had all been swimming since they could practically walk. Tyler smirked as he thought that it was the one thing the guys didn't try to protect him from.

He knew they would be a little surprised that he still went to practice even though they had all done a late night movie night together in Tyler's and Reid's dorm, but Tyler couldn't help it, his body was use to getting up and doing this every Saturday.

Tyler dropped his swim bag on the first row of bleachers as he walked towards the dive blocks on the deep end of the pool. It was better if he warmed up his body by swimming a few laps before he started working on his spring board dives. He climbed up onto the dive block for lane four, his regular lane, four for the fourth son.

He got into set position, gripping the edges of the block and pulling his body low before he sprung off it and propelled his body through the water. He closed his eyes, not bothering to even look through his goggles as he counted out his strokes in his head before somersaulting and kicking off the wall and freestyle swimming in the other direction.

It was dark with his eyes closed and it was quiet with only the sound of his body moving through the water. His breathing was measured and even and the water was warm as it caressed and flowed over his body. Tyler kept up an easy pace, not too fast and not too slow. He wasn't racing anyone, he was just stretching his body out. It wasn't until his fifth lap that he was interrupted and none too gently.

An arm came from out of nowhere and wrapped around Tyler's neck before it yanked him under water. Tyler gasped in surprise causing him to inhale a mouthful of water and his body nearly convulsed with the instinct to cough. At first Tyler thought it was Reid or one of the other guys messing with him but when the arm didn't let go and continued to hold his struggling form down he began to panic.

He tried to claw the hand from around his neck but it was stronger than him and he couldn't break free. They broke the surface for a moment and Tyler immediately started gasping and gagging but he was quickly pulled back under barely managing to take a breath before he was once more completely submerged.

Tyler was desperate as he struggled with his captor and his panicked mind sought out anything that could help him and immediately opened the links to his brothers where he virtually screamed in their minds for help.

"Tyler!"

"Ty!"

"Baby Boy!"

Immediately the other sons were bombarded with Tyler's panic, fear, and desperation and reached back to him to find out what was going on. Tyler sent them mental images of the pool, the arm, and the brief glance he had of a tall muscular body.

"Hold on Tyler, we're coming! Just hold on!" Caleb sent back to the youngest as the other sons ran from the dorm and towards the pool that had never seemed so far away as it did at that moment.

Tyler's struggles were getting weaker and his vision was getting darker. In a last act of desperation, Tyler grabbed his power and forcefully pushed it all into the person holding him down. The arm abruptly let him go and didn't return. The power suddenly left him though, leaving Tyler bereft and weak as he floated in the water.

He realized that his goggles were lost in the struggle as he opened his eyes and took in the blue depth around him. His vision got dimmer and he was so very tired. He could vaguely hear the other sons calling out to him across the internal link but he was simply too exhausted to respond. He thought he would close his eyes for just a minute as he let the darkness engulf him.

The others were just steps away from the pool door when they felt the end of Tyler's link disappear. Caleb's eyes widened as Pogue flinched and Reid stumbled. With an extra burst of speed they barreled through the doors and took in the pool area. A body was against one wall with a puddle of blood forming under it but they knew immediately it wasn't Tyler, the light brown hair gave it away.

"Oh my god." Reid's whisper caused the other two to look at him and follow his pained blue gaze to the pool where they could make out a figure at the bottom. The person wasn't moving.

Caleb's eyes flashed black as he reached out with his power to pull the person to the edge of the pool where they were standing. As soon as the head broke the surface they knew it was Tyler, his dark hair was unmistakable to them. Pogue fell to his knees beside the pool as he waited to pull the young boy out.

Tyler was limp as Pogue reached under the boy's arms and pulled him from the water. As he laid the boy on the floor they briefly took in how pale and still he was, his face was relaxed and peaceful as if he were merely sleeping. It took a moment to realize that Tyler was too still, that even his chest was not moving.

"NO!" Reid cried as he fell to his knees beside his younger brother. Caleb joined him on the floor but his fall was more focused as he leaned over Tyler and gave him two rescue breaths like they were taught the previous summer in CPR. Pogue began the chest compressions at Caleb's nod, counting softly under his breath. Reid just sat there, holding Tyler's hand and whispering "Please" over and over again like it was his new mantra.

Caleb's eyes met Pogue's for a moment above Tyler as they both worked. Both sets of eyes reflected so many things, fear, heartbreak, and desperation. Caleb gave a minute nod to Pogue as his eyes flashed black.

"Reid." Caleb said gaining Reid's attention. As soon as Reid saw the power dark eyes on both of his older brothers, he also delved into the power. The three brothers brought the power forth and pressed it into Tyler's still body.

Tyler's body twitched on the tiled floor, almost like it was being given an electric shock. A moment later his body arched painfully, bringing his bare chest up off the floor as his muscles tightened before falling limply back to the ground. For a brief moment no one moved. No one made a sound. Until finally, the sweetest sound reached their ears. Tyler gave a weak cough.

Reid fell back landing on his butt dropping Tyler's hand in surprise and shock that it actually worked. Pogue reached forward and grabbed Tyler's hip and pulled until the younger boy was lying on his side as he continued to cough up all the water he had inhaled while trying to gasp for a fleeting breath.

Caleb rubbed Tyler's back trying to coax him into calming down and letting his body do all the work of bringing up the bad water.

"Tyler?" Caleb asked softly looking at the boy who was still lying on his side and facing Pogue while Caleb sat up above his head and Reid sat behind his back.

But Tyler couldn't talk. He was too busy trying to pump out the ocean he had somehow inhaled. Pogue looked down at the youngest boy, simply happy to see the rising and falling chest, even if it was still rising and falling due to coughs and gasps. Taking in Tyler's face though he noticed something different about the normally blue eyes. Tyler's eyes were flashing from blue to black.

"Caleb. His eyes." Pogue said softly to avoid worrying Tyler.

Caleb looked at Pogue confused while the longer hair boy gestured to the youngest lying on the floor. Caleb shifted Tyler a little and upturned his head so that he could see the color shifting eyes. Tyler groaned, his hands fisting as he closed his eyes and finally managed to stop coughing.

"Tyler! Whats wrong?" Caleb asked causing Reid to scurry back to his knees closer to his best friend.

Tyler mumbled something but it was too soft for any of them to make out and Caleb cupped Tyler's face with his hand causing the flashing eyes to open and look at the oldest boy in a mixture of confusion and pain as the blue eyes continued to alternate between blue and black.

"Too much." Tyler mumbled closing his eyes again and leaning his head into the touch of his older brother. Even in Tyler's hazy and barely conscious mind, he knew that Caleb would figure out what was wrong and how to fix it, after all...that's what the older boy always did.

"Whats too much baby boy?" Reid asked from behind him taking his hand again and looking concerned when Tyler grabbed onto it with pain and desperation.

"Too much power." Tyler mumbled trying to curl into a fetal position but was stopped by Pogue's restraining hands that did not want the younger boy to hurt himself. "I can't hold it." Tyler said gasping as his muscles contracted with the effort of holding all the power inside himself.

Reid looked up at Caleb in alarm as they realized that all that power they had shoved into Tyler to save him was now trapped in their brother's body and he wasn't capable of keeping it all in himself. Tyler's half lidded eyes looked across the pool to see the figure of the person who had attacked him lying unmoving against the far wall and a half formed notion took root in his mind.

"Help me up." Tyler said squeezing Reid's hand.

"What?" Reid asked dumbly looking down at the boy.

"Help me over to him." Tyler said looking at the person against the wall and the other brothers followed his gaze to see his attacker still lying there unmoving.

"Why Tyler?" Pogue asked. That person had just injured Tyler badly and there would have to be a hell of a good reason for Pogue to allow the younger boy near him again, and judging by the looks of the others, they agreed.

"Can heal him...manipulate memory...use excess power." Tyler said taking breaks in his speaking as he fought to keep the power from bursting out of him and possibly his brothers.

Caleb nodded softly at what Tyler was saying as he stared at the figure. His mind was going a mile a minute with scenarios of what could happen in all events and trying to think of another plan to get rid of the excess power safely but he couldn't think of any that would be fast enough for Tyler.

Caleb shifted and reached down and pulled Tyler into his arms before standing up, with some help from Pogue. He walked briskly, not minding the weight of the younger boy but wanting to get him to the person as soon as possible to drain some of the power.

Pogue moved ahead of them and reached the person first and shifted them until they were lying on their back. Reid gasped from beside him as they took in the face of Aaron Abbot, the class bully. The boy didn't look so intimidating now with an obviously broken arm and blood pulling around his head from a four inch gash that went from his left eyebrow and into his hair line.

Reid opened his mouth, as if about to object to Tyler healing Aaron, but he quickly closed it again at seeing the shake of Caleb's head and seeing Tyler literally gasping as he tried to keep control of the power that was rushing through him. Caleb knelt slowly to the floor, easing Tyler down onto the blue tiles. The younger boy reached out a shaking hand and placed it palm flat onto Aaron's head as he closed his eyes.

Tyler pushed some of the power out of him and into Aaron, quickly focusing it to heal the broken humerus of the boy's upper arm and then pushing it to heal the slight skull fracture and internal bleeding from the bully's impact with the unforgiving wall. Even though Tyler was not the best at manipulating other people's memories, nothing like how Reid could do it effortlessly, Tyler could still mess with Aaron's memories enough to make the other boy think that he slipped and bumped his head when he woke up. Tyler even left a little swelling and bruise on the boy's forehead to go along with the story.

But as soon as Tyler was finished with using on Aaron, he knew that he had a problem. He still hadn't used enough power and would not be able to keep it all inside himself. He moved his head from the other boy and placed both palms down on the ground and pushed out a pulse of energy designed to eliminate any evidence of the sons having been there but still that was not enough.

Keeping his eyes tightly closed, Tyler reached out a desperate hand to one of his brothers with a plea of "grab on ." The other boys did without question. Caleb through an arm around the youngest boy's waist helping to support his wavering form. Pogue grasped Tyler's right shoulder and squeezed it in silent support. Reid grabbed the seeking hand. Before any of them could question him though, Tyler pushed more power out of his body and ported all three of them to Caleb's room.

There was a quiet gasp and Tyler couldn't make out who had issued it, but then had an idea of why. Not only did Tyler transport all four of them here, expending a huge amount of power, he also pushed out with his healing gift and had unconsciously healed them all of any hurts of aches they may have had, including a paper cut on Caleb's palm, the tweaked wrist Pogue had, and the left over sniffles from Reid's cold.

But still the power flowed underneath Tyler's skin with an intensity. It felt like his body was a dam holding an impossible amount of water and was slowly cracking and leaking it out. In a last ditch effort of desperation and panic, he divided the power up into three large but not impossible pieces, and shoved it into his brothers who were still holding onto him.

"Fuck!" Reid shouted as he dropped Tyler's hand, his eyes an intense black.

"Holy shit." Pogue released Tyler's shoulder as if it had burned him, his eyes also black as night.

"Damn." Caleb hissed as he dealt with the power shoved none to gently in him, his eyes were black too, but he did not let go of Tyler. In fact, he caught the youngest boy as he slumped towards the floor.

The three older sons stared at each other in surprise as they tried to work with the sudden influx of power before slowly bringing it under control and their eyes returning to their normal color. Each had the same thought, that they had only received a piece of what Tyler had held. Caleb eased Tyler down onto the floor. The younger boy was pale and his eyes were closed.

"Tyler." Caleb called leaning over the boy and gently shaking his shoulder trying to get a response.

"Tyler wake up!" Caleb called out more firmly with a harsher shake but still there was no response from the youngest, not even a twitch.

Caleb looked up into the faces of the other two and saw his worry and fear reflected on their faces as he reached down to Tyler's neck and felt for a pulse. He held his breath until he felt the steady thrum of Tyler's pulse and then saw the slow and deep rise and fall of the boy's chest.

"I think he gave us too much power, plus everything he's been through...its no wonder he's out like a light." Caleb said as he turned the youngest more so that he was lying flat on his back, his head slightly tilted in the brothers' directions.

Reid knelt down next to him and placed his hand on Tyler's chest and simply sat while he felt Tyler breathing. Pogue dropped down next to him and ran a hand through Tyler's hair. It wasn't until Pogue did pulled his hand back and found it soaking wet that the sons realized that Tyler was still wet from the pool and dressed in his swim trunks.

"We better get him into some dry clothes." Caleb said standing and walking over to his closet. All the sons kept a spare set of clothes at each other's houses in the bottom of their closets. As Caleb went in his, he grabbed Tyler's spare set which consisted of a boxers, dark blue sweat pants, and a blue and gray t-shirt.

Walking back into the room found Pogue drying Tyler's body with a towel while Reid tackled drying the younger boy's hair. They quickly pulled off Ty's swim trunks and dried him before putting him in his sweats. None of them batted an eyelash or even blushed at seeing their younger brother naked. After all they had grown up together and shared the swim showers together for years, there was nothing there that they hadn't seen. But as they were pulling on his shirt, they did notice the bruises that were starting to darken his skin, and not all of them were from the fight with Aaron. In fact, the most prominent bruise was in the center of Tyler's chest where they had done CPR in an effort to save him. Pogue ghosted a his hand over the bruise, afraid to touch it and cause pain to the younger boy.

"He going to be ok?" Pogue asked as he pulled his hand away and pulled down the t-shirt before reaching down and lifting the smaller boy into his arms as he carried him over to Caleb's large king sized bed.

Caleb came over and pulled the covers down as Pogue settled the youngest in the center of the bed and the cover's were pulled up and tucked around him by Reid. None of them mad any comments about their actions. After being so close to losing Tyler today, they all knew they were going to be keeping a closer eye on him and being closer to him in general.

"We should probably leave him to sleep." Caleb said standing beside the bed.

"Yeah." Pogue eloquently answered.

Reid ignored the other two and climbed on the bed and over Tyler until he was lying on the boy's left side and watched him sleep. Watched him breath.

"Reid." Whether it was in admonishment or in question, Reid didn't care.

"I don't know about you two, but seeing Tyler so close to...There's no way I am leaving him until he is awake and can joke around with me and yell at me for not cleaning my half of the dorm." Reid said never taking his eyes off of Tyler.

Caleb looked at Pogue who simply shrugged his shoulders before climbing on the bed on Tyler's other side and resting his hand on the boy's chest and feeling the rise and fall of each breath.

Caleb looked at his three brothers all lying on his bed. All of them for the moment safe. "Move over." Caleb said as he climbed in beside Pogue. Reid grabbed Tyler and pulled him closer to his side of the bed to make room for Caleb. They were all quiet for a few minutes and no one was really sure who fell asleep first.

Tyler groaned softly as he struggled to open his eyes. He was so tired and really just wanted to go back to sleep but his mind kept yelling at him that there was something important that he should be remembering. He finally managed to open his eyes and stared up at the blue ceiling in confusion. He wasn't confused as to where he was, the blue ceiling gave away the fact that he was in Caleb's room. He was confused as to why he was in Caleb's room.

Tyler tried to shift to get up but realized that there was something on his chest and stomach that were holding him down . He twisted to the left and saw Reid sleeping next to him with an arm thrown half hazard over his stomach. Shifting to his right found Pogue had thrown an arm over his chest. And beyond Pogue lay Caleb who was looking back at him in amusement. It took Tyler's tired mind a minute to realize that Caleb was awake and staring at him with laughter in his eyes.

"Wha-?" Tyler began to say but broke out into a coughing fit that left him gasping for a moment as the many aches and sores awoke within his body. Caleb literally climbed over Pogue and lifted Tyler into a sitting position to better help him breath, climbing behind his back to better support him. Reid and Pogue also woke at the sound of Tyler's coughing. Pogue jerked upright looking from left to right to find out what was happening before taking in the situation. Reid turned over to sit up in the bed but unfortunately for him, he rolled the wrong direction and ended up rolling off the bed altogether.

"Relax Tyler. Don't fight it and it will stop." Caleb whispered into his ear as he ran small circles beneath Tyler's left collar bone to help him relax. Pogue reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the bottle of water sitting there and waited for Tyler to stop coughing so that he could take a drink. Reid climbed back onto the bed and squeezed Tyler's thigh as the boy finally managed to stop coughing.

"Here, take a drink Ty." Pogue said offering him the water bottle.

Tyler took small sips of water as a hand reached up and unconsciously rubbed the bruising around his neck as he looked at the others confused.

"What am I doing in Caleb's bed?" He asked confused.

The other three sons looked at each other and Tyler in shock and worry. "Amnesia?" Reid asked looking at Caleb in question. Caleb shook his head at Reid as he moved from behind Tyler so that he could face him. He helped Tyler lean back against the headboard.

"What's the last thing you remember Ty?" Caleb asked carefully not wanting to scare or confuse the younger boy.

Tyler looked at him in confusion before he thought back. "I remember swimming. I was loosening up my muscles before I worked on my dives." He paused as his mind went back. "There was someone in the pool." He looked at Caleb in confusion as he started to remember what happened. "They pulled me under water and I couldn't breath. I couldn't get to the surface. I..." Tyler trailed off as he thought back and shivered at remembering how he had been unable to breath. How he thought he was going to die at the bottom of that pool.

"Hey. Come on Ty." Tyler snapped his head up as he felt arms encircle him from behind and was pulled back against a firm body that he knew instantly was Pogue's.

"Do you remember anything after being in the water?" Caleb asked carefully seeing how upset his brother was at remembering what did happen.

Tyler shook his head as he looked at Reid. Blue eyes met blue and Reid could see the fear that was in Tyler's eyes as he remembered being nearly drowned. Reid reached over and ran a hand through Tyler's hair in a time honored fashion that both reassured and relaxed the younger boy.

"Who?" Tyler asked staring at Reid.

Reid looked into the blue eyes of his best friend. The eyes that shown with a fear that he had never seen before. "We don't know." Reid said never looking away from Tyler. Neither Pogue nor Caleb said anything at his blatant lie. As Reid looked at his best friend and younger brother, he knew he couldn't tell him that a fellow classmate that he saw every day had tried to kill him.

"Mmm." Tyler nodded looking away and yawning. He was so tired and he didn't know why. "I'm so tired." He murmured as he turned his head into Pogue's shoulder and closed his eyes only to reopen them a second later. He really didn't want to go to sleep right now.

"Sleep baby boy. We'll be here when you wake up." Caleb said running a hand through Tyler's hair and over his eyes causing him to close them and this time they didn't reopen.

"You're not going to let me go swimming alone on Saturday's anymore are you?" Tyler asked sleepily as he gave a small sigh as he felt Pogue's laughter beneath his head.

"Not any time soon." Caleb said. But Tyler never heard it. He was already fast asleep surrounded once again by three very over protective brothers.

**SECOND CHAPTER IS PENDING**

**A/N: Wow! I was really surprised at the positive responses I got from my last story ****Shattered Shields****. I know I said the next story would be about Tyler's healing ability but I got writer's block on it and decided to tide the masses over with this little story that may or may not have another chapter depending on the reviews I get. Also, for all you slash lovers, I have a story called ****Loss of Innocence**** on if anyone wants to read it. You can find it at: /s/2565026/1/LossofInnocence.**

**Reviews inspire me to write more often!**


	2. Breath of Air

**AN: I am so very sorry for the late delay on this chapter. I wrote myself into a major corner and didn't know where exactly I wanted to go with this story. But now it is done and I hope it lives up to expectations. The only good thing about it is that I would not let myself post other works until I finished this one so that I would not disappoint any of you and so you would not think I forgot this story.**

**To see a copy of the dive featured at the end of this story please go to:**

****

http:// www. youtube. com/watch?v=7CGiGfTa7Zo&feature=related

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Oh well, enjoy the chapter. I hope it lives up to the expectations.

As always I don't own the covenant or its characters.

**CHAPTER 2**

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The next time Tyler woke up was not as dramatic as the first. He woke warm and comfortable in the large bed and could immediately tell by the blue ceiling that he was still in Caleb's room. He looked around and was startled by the bright blue eyes taking in his every move.

"Reid what's going on?" He cleared his throat, wincing slightly as it felt like he had swallowed sandpaper. He gratefully took the bottle of water that was handed to him and took a few sips to ease the burning.

"Caleb and Pogue had a brief errand to run, they should be back in a bit." They way that Reid said it and the slight smirk on his face had Tyler nervous about what kind of errand was being done. He was getting ready to start questioning Reid when the door opened and in walked one of the answers in the form of Caleb.

"Where were you?" He took in everything on his oldest brothers form. His clothes were slightly rumpled and his hair was disheveled. Tyler would have thought that he had just been laid if it weren't for two things. One was the bruise that was beginning to darken Caleb's left cheek and the other were the red and cracked knuckles that he could see on Caleb's right hand. That was answer enough. "You've been fighting! What the hell is going on?" He looked between his two brothers and didn't like what he saw. He saw them exchange looks that stated that they knew something he didn't.

"Come over here so I can fix you up and then you can tell me what's going on." His voice brokered no argument but he knew that it wasn't going to be that simple.

"Tyler you really shouldn't use your energy on healing right now you're likely to pass out. Not only that but we're fine." Tyler could see that as soon as the words were out of Caleb's mouth that he wanted to reel them back in and he understood why too.

"We're fine? Where's Pogue?" He looked behind Caleb to see if the other brother was in the doorway but did not spot him anywhere. He immediately became concerned. Pogue was as overprotective as Caleb when it came to him and would not be absent unless something was wrong. Horrible images of possibilities passed through his head as to where his brother could be.

His eyes flashed midnight and he unleashed his healing powers to find his missing brother. He felt as the wave of power first hit Reid and finding nothing wrong and continued before they hit Caleb. His power paused and lingered over the bruised cheek and cracked knuckles. It also paused on some forming bruises along Caleb's ribs before continuing through the house.

Tyler could feel himself breaking out into a cold sweat as he encouraged his power on. Part of him knew that he shouldn't be doing this. That he wasn't ready to be doing this yet but it was all squashed under the concern for his brothers. He could hear Caleb and Reid talking frantically but it was as if they were some distance away and their conversation was muted and muffled.

He knew the instant that his power came in contact with Pogue. He noticed dimly that he was in the kitchen before the power blanketed over him and caused him to stumble and fall to the floor in surprise. His brothers had explained to him that his healing power often felt like a tingling over the injured area but Tyler knew that he had just completely encompassed Pogue in his power. He knew that if they really wanted to then they could fight off his power but it took a lot of concentration and energy to focus and his power's tingling sense was really distracting.

He pushed more energy into his healing power as he fixed a cracked rib on Pogue along with a broken hand and the bruises. Whoever his brothers had fought did not take it lightly. As the last of the bruises on Pogue healed Tyler began to rein in his power. But he was having difficulties. In his haste to help his brothers he had put a lot of his energy into the power to heal them and did not leave much in himself to call it back.

It was like trying to push a freight train back through a tunnel but Tyler was nothing if not determined. When he finally felt the last of the power enter his body he cut it off and was left gasping on the bed. He managed to open his eyes half way to see a worried Reid and Caleb standing over him.

"Tyler! Can you hear me?" Tyler nodded slightly to let Caleb know he could hear him before his eyes closed again in exhaustion. He was forced to open them a moment later when Reid shook his shoulder.

"What the hell is going on?" Pogue burst into the room at a run and Tyler used the distraction to close his eyes again. He was so tired and all he really wanted to do was sleep. He barely registered their conversation as white noise as he sunk into the welcoming darkness.

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He was back in the pool again. Submerged in the dark blue depths as arms tightened around him and kept him from getting to the life saving air. He struggled in the hold clawing and twisting try to get out. He ignored the punches as he fought with a desparation for his life that he had never had to do before. But he was losing. He was getting further away from the light and the air and was sinking deeper and darker.

He gasped as he woke up and took a look around. There was no pool and no stranger holding him down. He bit back a groan as he laid his head back onthe bed and stared straight in front of him. He was getting tired of waking up and staring at Caleb's ceiling. This time it was Pogue that was sitting beside the bed, only his feet were propped up on the bed and he was sleeping in the chair. Tyler smiled as he noticed the bit of drool that was creeping down the right side of Pogue's chin.

He quietly sat up and looked around the room for any of his other brothers but lucked out when he discovered that he was alone with sleeping beauty. He eased himself until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to be soundless to not wake up Pogue and trying to move carefully to avoid all his aches and pains.

He carefully snuck out of the room and down the hall. He was surprised that he didn't run into anyone once he made it down the stairs but figured that Caleb and Reid were sleeping in another room since it was dark out and probably the middle of the night. He made his way to the garage and spotted Pogue's bike resting there. He knew his brother would be mad but he really wanted to get away from them for awhile.

He found the hidden key in a magnetic case hidden under the bike seat and quickly started the bike. He raced down Caleb's driveway as he saw a few lights in the house turn on. He knew his cover was blown and they were about to discover he was gone but at least he had a head start.

He drove through the streets not really paying attention. But he wasn't too surprised when he stopped and realized that he was outside of the aquatics building on campus. It made karmic sense in a way to come back to where it all began. He shut off the bike and flashed his power as he walked up to the building and unlocked the door and turned off the alarm system and cameras. Besides his dorm he knew this place like the back of his hand. He found the light switch and turned them all on to take off the dim night lighting. He was temporarily blinded before he could focus again and walk towards the pool.

He walked around the edge of the pool. So much had changed in so little time and his head was still reeling. He loved to swim. He loved to dive. He loved the feel as he broke the surface of the water and became weightless. And a part of him loved the fact that in the pool he was just himself. He was just Tyler. Not the youngest of the Ipswich four. Not the youngest in the covenant. Not the baby boy. He was simply Tyler and his successes and failures depended on him alone. He loved the fact that he was the only diver of the group.

But Tyler was also very mad. He was mad that someone had tried to take all of this away from him. Mad that his brothers were all obviously lying about who had done it. And he was mad that he was scared of what he loved. Even now standing at the edge of the pool a trickle of fear slithered up his spine like serpent to coil around his heart.

He made his way into the locker room heading towards his locker and where he kept his spare swim gear. He stripped out of his sweats and pulled on his spare set of swim shorts and headed back to the pool. He walked another lap around the pool but stayed a good three feet from the edge not even chancing coming into contact with the water.

He made his way to the starting blocks and climbed up on number four and eased into the set position but hesitated. As he stared at the pool all he could see were the bubbles from his thrashing underwater. He could feel the arms around him holding him down. Preventing him from getting any air. He fairly fell off of the block and landed on the tiled floor with a thump as he stared at the water.

His breaths came in short pants as he had to fight off a panic attack. It was a few minutes before he could even bring himself to stand and when he did he wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream.

"DAMN IT!!" He yelled in frustration as he pulled at his hair. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't even get into the water. He turned around and slapped the wall wincing slightly as his hand pulsed in protestation to the harsh treatment. He slumped down the wall, his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms hanging loosely off of them as he stared at the water. It was in front of him taunting him with its perfect clarity and its stillness. Everything that his mind was not.

But as he looked up his gaze caught on the 3M springboard and his hopes raised. He had never gotten to dive on Saturday. There were no bad memories and nightmares connected. All be it once he left the springboard he would be hitting the water but hopefully at that point he would be able to pull himself back together. It might be his last chance.

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Caleb watched with the others hidden behind the bleachers as his youngest brother fell from the starting block. It took both of Pogue's arms to keep him from rushing out to their brother's aid. But they had agreed when they arrived that they would observe only. Caleb knew that Tyler needed to get through this part on his own or else he may never get back into the water. But the pain and hurt radiating from the blue eyes boy on the other side of the pool felt like knife wounds to his heart.

He hated to admit it but he had been wrong. He thought Tyler would come to the pool jump in and that would be the end of it. He hadn't thought through how traumatizing the experience had to have been for Tyler. How the one thing he always felt safe with had almost killed him. But that had been shown to him in perfect clarity when Tyler yelled after falling off the block. Looking at his brother, he saw that he was a picture of dejection. The longer the youngest sat there the more Reid, Pogue, and himself shifted nervously.

He began to think about what it would mean if Tyler couldn't do this. If he couldn't get into the pool after his attack and what that would mean to their baby boy. On one of their past heart to hearts, Tyler had opened up to him and explained how important swimming and diving was to him. Especially the diving since it was something that none of the rest of them did, it was something that Tyler had to himself.

He watched as Tyler seemed to finally perk up and struggle to his feet but was nervous as he watched him go for the diving board. He wanted Tyler to get his feet wet and not throw his body off of a board twisting and turning and jumping literally into his nightmare.

"He's not." He turned and saw Pogue wide eyed next to him as he too watched Tyler climb up on the springboard.

"He is." Caleb whispered nervously as he moved forward slightly to stop him. This wasn't what he had in mind in Tyler getting over his fear.

"Trust him Cay. He can do this." Reid said and Caleb felt his hand on his shoulder holding him in place.

And so Caleb sat back with his two other brothers as they watched their youngest try to pull himself back together and conquer his own demons. What was hardest on them was that they had to let him do it alone without their help. But they would watch over him and help him should he fall.

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Tyler walked the length of the board before turning back and heading for the safe tiled floor. But as he approached the point where he could step off, something inside of himself stopped him. Something told him that if he didn't do this now then he would never be able to do it and that was something that he could not allow to happen.

So he turned again and headed back to the end of the board and looking into the depths of the water he felt his breathing quicken. So he turned around again. But instead of walking off the board he turned and faced the wall. With deep breaths and the mantra in his mind repeating 'you can do this....you can do this....' over and over again he slowly moved backwards and closer to the water as he stood on the board on tiptoes.

He was balancing on the edge of the board. In front of him was safety. Was the ground that would keep him out of the pool. Possibly forever. Behind him were nightmares and demons that he had to face. Behind him lay mystery of not knowing exactly what was going to happen and how it all was going to turn out. But he just stood there on the edge of the board. The balls of his feet and his toes the only thing separating him from the water.

But the one thing that everyone knew about Tyler was that he was never one to give up or give in to his fears. Although the others treated him like the youngest and the baby of the group they partly did it because they had to protect him from himself at times. He knew it and they knew it.

Tyler closed his eyes. He closed his eyes and focused on the smell of the chlorine. The feel of the humidity against his skin. The warmth that wrapped around his body from the heated water a few feet below him. He kept his eyes closed as he started to bounce slightly on the board. Slowly and tentatively at first. But then his bouncing became more assured, more focused.

He went over the steps to this dive in his mind one last time before letting his body take control. He took a couple more sure bounces before he raised his arms out at shoulder level. One final bounce as he jumped up from the board and pulled his legs flat to his chest. His body flipping one more time as he released his legs, arched his back brought his hands over his head and ripped through the water sinking down to the bottom.

As he broke the surface of the water he opened his eyes. He ignored the slight sting as he looked around the depth. He stayed at the bottom of the pool for a moment before he suddenly started to laugh. He quickly kicked off the bottom as he remembered the laughing while under water was not a wise thing to do. He broke the surface again and was caught between laughing and coughing.

He had done it. He had actually done it and now that it was finished he couldn't believe that he had almost not done it. That he had almost given this up because of one asshole. He dipped back under the water again as his coughing got the better of him. He was surprised as splash landed near him and arms wrapped around his chest. For a split second his mind went back to the struggle and his body tensed in preparation to defend itself again. But the next second he relaxed into the familiar hold as he turned his head and saw Reid holding him up in the water as he continued to cough and laugh at the same time.

"I don't get whats so funny about you nearly drowning yourself." Reid muttered as he towed him towards the edge of the pool and to their older brothers who were waiting.

"I didn't nearly drown myself." He finally managed to choke out as he took Pogue's hand and let himself be pulled out of the pool where Caleb wrapped a towel around his shoulders.

"Then what were you doing?" Pogue asked him as he pulled Reid out of the pool.

"I was taking back what was mine." He muttered as he laid on the bleacher his hands behind his head and his eyes closed as he smelled the chlorine and felt the water dripping down his body.

He cracked his eyes and saw that Caleb was hovering over him but he watched his brother smile at his words and he knew that at least one of them understood what he meant. He closed his eyes exhausted at the emotional upheaval he went through to accomplish what he had done.

"No falling asleep baby boy. You can once we get to the dorms." Caleb shook his shoulder and pulled him back into a sitting position and pulled him to his feet and drag him to the locker room to get changed again.

"Ty," He turned around to look at Pogue as he reached the locker room doors, "you steal my bike again and not even Caleb will be able to save you."

He smiled as he went to change. A few minutes later he was back and yawning as they walked towards the exit and from there the dorms where they would spend the rest of the night and where Tyler would hopefully sleep without fears and nightmares. As they walked outside he shivered and crossed his arms around himself to hold in the warmth.

"You know, if you get sick because of this stunt then I'm going to kick your ass." Tyler smiled sleepily at Reid as the four brothers made their way to the dorms. "And nice Inward 1 1/2 dive by the way."

Tyler laughed. He threw his arm around Reid's shoulder as they walked towards their dorm.

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The End.


End file.
